Biology and Biotechnology

The mission is to widen the education and training of biotechnology at the University, to make it an attractive option for students to pursue a career in this developing and innovative field, while at the same time providing them with highly qualified skills in Biology. Graduates of this Program will be encouraged to become key players and leaders in in several fields using biotechnology, including medicine and pharmaceutical, biological sciences, food industry, agriculture, health and the environment.

The main goal of the Biology and Biotechnology Program is to form scientists who will have the ability to analyze and approach problems from a broader perspective. These skills will allow our graduates to work with new technologies, deliver innovative solutions, and be pioneers in the field. In particular, the program will form students that will develop both practical and theoretical skills to achieve the following goals: 
A.    Provide students with comprehensive knowledge and understanding of Biology together with an in-depth knowledge of state-of-the art biotechnology techniques and theory.  
B.    Equip students with understanding and knowledge of a wide range of topics in Biotechnology from programming for bioinformatics to genomics, proteomics, and bio nanotechnology.
C.    Advance students’ ability to carry out scientific research and to be front-runners in the biotechnology field including providing them with the necessary foundations that will allow them to have easy access to post graduate programs both locally and abroad.    
D.    Develop students’ critical thinking skills and deliver innovative solutions to important problems in several fields.

Upon successful completion of the bachelor’s program in Biology and Biotechnology, our graduates will be trained with knowledge and skills that will allow them to work and be key player in several fields. 

  • A.    Outcomes for Goal A, General knowledge: Students will have an in-depth and broad knowledge of both biology, biochemistry, and biotechnology. Our graduates will also gain knowledge in basic sciences such as chemistry and physics, and will have substantial programming skills, 

A1. Explain biological phenomena and apply new biotechnology solutions to understand life, evolution, and make connections at the molecular, genetic, and system biology level.
A2. Demonstrate technical and professional proficiencies necessary to identify, describe, discover, investigate, and interpret biological phenomena and their intricacies.

  • B.    Outcomes for goal B, specific knowledge in biology and biotechnology: provide students with in depth knowledge of advanced new technology and computational skills.

B1.  Understand and explain system biology and its related developing fields such as genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics.
B2. Demonstrate technical proficiency in using computational advanced languages such as Python to solve biological questions.

  • C.    Outcomes for goal C, Scientific research skills: develop students’ research and technical skills to become frontrunners in scientific research and innovation

C1. Identify biological problems, analyze relevant information and design experimental procedures to answer the issues. 
C2. Work within interdisciplinary teams in order to obtain the necessary tools that are required to solve specific problems information, collect data and assess its relevance and reliability.
C3.  Develop written and oral communication skills to efficiently and effectively convey new scientific knowledge.

  • D.    Outcomes for goal D, critical thinking skills: Develop students’ ability to assess information and understand its significance and importance. Advance students’ capacity to analyze scientific material, and ability to use multidisciplinary approaches to provide new perspectives. Support debate and discussion of scientific knowledge.

D1. Develop critical skills by analyzing, evaluating, and examining information. 
D2. Develop the ability to discuss and debate in a scientific manner 
D3. Encourage opportunities to test problem solving abilities

Graduates will be qualified to seek employment in many different fields and industry-related jobs. The following companies and agencies are potential employers of our graduates:

  • Pharmaceutical companies
  • Research Hospitals
  • Ministry of Health
  • Biotechnology Companies
  • Environmental agencies and ministries for environmental monitoring, control, and remediation
  • Food industry and food science
  • Agriculture
  • Energy production and energy storage
  • Universities and Colleges
  • Start-up own business
  • Compete for specialized graduate programs worldwide in public and private universities

The bachelor’s degree in Biology and Biotechnology is awarded upon successful completion of a minimum of 122 credit hours  that can normally be completed in four academic years (8 semesters) as follows:

Course type

Number of credit hours

Percentages

  1. University requirements

20

16.4%

  1. Faculty of science requirements

18

14.8%

  1. Major program requirements

75

61.5 %

  1. Program elective courses

9

7.4%

  1. Total

122

100%

 

  1. University requirements (2 0credit hour)

Course code

Course name

Cr. hr.

Pre-requisites

ARAB135

Arabic language skills I

3

 

ARAB136

Arabic language skills II

3

ARAB135

6 Cr. Hr. from the following:

 

 

CULS331

Modern and contemporary European thought

3

Second year level

CULS332

Modern and contemporary Arab thought

3

Completion of 30 credit hrs

CULS333

Palestine: the identity and the cause

3

 

ENGC1400

Intensive intermediate English 1

4

ENGC1000

ENGC2400

Intensive intermediate English 2

4

ENGC1400

Total

20

 

 

  1. Faculty of science requirements (18 credit hours)

Course code

Course name

Cr. hr.

Pre-requisites

BIOL131

General biology

3

 

CHEM141

General chemistry I

4

 

BIOL111

General Biology Laboratory

1

 

MATH1431

Calculus for Health Sciences

4

 

PHYS1431

General physics for Health and Life Sciences

4

 

PHYS 111

General Physics Laboratory

2

 

Total

18

 

  1. Program requirements (84 credit hours)
    1. Core courses: 75 credit hours

Category

Course code

Course title

Cr. hr.

Prerequisite

# of hours/week

Theor.

Prac.

Mathematics

STAT2381

Biostatistics

3

 

3

0

Chemistry

CHEM111

General chemistry lab I

1

CHEM141 or concurrent

0

3

CHEM112

General chemistry lab II

1

CHEM111, CHEM132 or concurrent

0

3

CHEM132

General chemistry II

3

CHEM141

3

0

CHEM221

Organic chemistry lab

2

(CHEM230 or concurrent) and CHEM112

1

3

CHEM230

Basics of organic chemistry

3

CHEM132

3

0

 

 

 

Biology and Biochemistry

BIOL2220

Invertebrate Zoology

2

BIOL111

2

0

BIOL2230

Vertebrate Zoology

2

BIOL2220

2

0

BIOL 2110

Zoology Laboratory

1

Concurrent with BIOL 2220

0

2

BIOL 2340

Cell Biology

3

BIOL 111

3

0

BIOL 2140

Cell Biology Laboratory

1

Concurrent with BIOL 2340

0

3

BIOL 241

Botany

4

BIOL 111

3

3

BIOL 243

General Microbiology

4

BIOL 111

3

3

BIOL331

Genetics

3

BIOL 2340

3

0

BIOL 311

Genetics Laboratory

1

Concurrent with BIOL 3310

0

3

BIOL333

Molecular Biology

3

BIOL 3310

3

0

BIOL 313

Molecular Biology Laboratory

1

Concurrent with BIOL 3330

0

3

BIOL 3241

Research Methods

2

Third year level

2

0

BIOC 331

Biochemistry 1

3

BIOL 131, CHEM 230 (or concurrent)

3

0

BIOC 311

Biochemistry Laboratory 1

1

Concurrent with BIOC 331

0

3

BIOL430

Animal Physiology

3

BIOL2230, BIOC331

3

0

BIOL431

Plant Physiology

3

BIOL2410, BIOC331

3

0

BIOL436

Immunology

3

BIOL243, BIOC331

3

0

BIOL411

Seminar in Biology and Biotechnology

3

4th year level and BIOL3241

3

0

Biotechnology Courses

BIOT3310

Biotechnology 1

3

BIOL111, BIOL 131

3

0

BIOT3330

Bioinformatics 1

3

COMP 132

2

3

BIOT4330

Bioinformatics 2

3

BIOT3330, COMP 2333

2

3

BIOT4331

Biotechnology 2

3

BIOT3310

2

3

BIOT4340

Biophysics

3

PHYS1431

3

0

Computer Science

COMP132

Introduction to computer and programming

3

 

3

0

COMP 2333

Programming for Biology

 

COMP132

3

0

 

  1. Elective courses: 9 credit hours of which at least 6 to be chosen from Biotechnology Electives (see table below). The remaining 3 credits can be chosen from Biology or Biochemistry courses level 3000 or above

Course code

Course title

Cr.

Hr.

Prerequisite

# of hours/week

Theor.

Prac.

BIOL434

Embryology

3

BIOL2230

3

0

CHEM234

Analytical chemistry 1

3

CHEM112 and CHEM132

2

4

BIOT3320

Bionanotechnology

3

BIOT3310 or concurrent

3

0

BIOT3331

Introduction to Proteomics

3

BIOC3310

3

0

BIOT4310

Plant Biotechnology

3

BIOC3310

2

3

BIOT4320

Introduction to Genomics 

3

BIOC3310

3

0

BIOT4350

Microbial Biotechnology

3

BIOL131

3

0

BIOT4380

Special Topics in Biotechnology

3

Department approval

3

0

GENS3300

Ethics in Natural and Nanosciences

3

 

3

0

The student should successfully pass 122 credit hours for the Bachelor Biology and Biotechnology with a cumulative average of 70% or higher.